No, I didn’t do my Tarzan yell. Attempting such amateur vocals amid the gorgeous green foliage just outside the El Yunque National Rainforest in Puerto Rico would have been like singing “100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” in Carnegie Hall. Not fitting at all. Maybe next time. If I practice first.

What else didn’t I do during our Puerto Rican adventure? Well, I didn’t fly the plane back off of Vieques even though the steering wheel and controls were within easy reach from my co-pilot’s seat. And I didn’t blink at the carry-on luggage of the guy standing directly behind me at the airport ticket counter -a chicken in a burlap bag. Didn’t stand in a security line either.

I didn’t get trampled by any of the wild horses that kept popping out of bushes when Hannah and I ran the roads of Vieques. I definitely didn’t tire of picking and sampling tropical fruits as we wandered the islands.

I did glow when we swam the Bio-luminescent Bay after dark. I’d like to think that I always glow a little, but it was all dino-flagellite action that night.

Didn’t miss the internet. Didn’t miss TV. Missed my oldest son but didn’t miss one wonderful moment with my two youngest kids who accompanied me on the trip.

I believe this photo was actually taken by my daughter Hannah who is already showing considerable writing/photography talent as a teen. When she snapped this picture, Matt and I were already holding handfuls of colorful sea glass, broken shards that had been polished over time by ocean and sand. The three of us continued to scoop up the sparkling pieces as we ambled Sun Bay Beach and by the time we turned back, none of us could have held up a camera! Idyllic day…

Click the links below for more photos and information on Sun Bay and Isla de Vieques.

Travel creates its own unique thrills and tensions. Slipping my shoes back on and strolling away from the TSA crew at an American airport is always a good feeling, no matter how pleasant the screener. And I’m usually aware of that first exhale once I am seated, buckled and reaching for reading material. The tension of achieving that moment of departure swings out of mind once the counterweight-ing thrill of prospective adventures sink in. It’s more than a fair trade.

We wandered the boat, roasted in the sun and relished the motion as we (finally!) made our way through the ocean waters.

Gigi and Faizah who were so helpful to us in navigating the tedious ticketing process sat nearby. We would run into them repeatedly on the small island of Vieques. And once we were home I had to check out Gigi’s drumming website. An accomplished musician and voting member of the Recording Academy (Grammys), her music is a “daring… deviant” fusion of her Puerto Rican roots and the LA music scene.